Presenting from the inside out

I met a friend for coffee today and whilst the catch up was pleasing enough the setting was decidedly lacking in presentation and the mood of the establishment was somewhat dour and lacklustre. We had decided to meet at this particular place as it was handy with reasonable car parking options, and considering it is located on one of the more affluent streets in my city we thought it would be a legitimate option.

Have you ever walked into a place and felt immediately gloomy? That's what happened. I walked in, my friend was not there yet, sat down and decided pretty quickly it all felt quite unwelcoming. It wasn't seedy just, tired, I guess is a good word. My friend arrived and we had a good catch up, were served by a bright young lad with a happy demeanour and the coffee and croissant we ate was of a good quality and presented well. Hmm, all ticks on those fronts so what's up with the appearance and overall feel of the establishment?

Obviously appearance affects how we feel about things and had I seen the interior of the café prior to walking into it I would probably have walked out - Indeed, prior to my friend arriving I almost did although I'm not one to do that generally, not once I'm seated anyway. source

Would I go back for the happy-demeanoured serving guy's good service? Would the tasty croissant and the coffee be enough to draw me back? Probably not, certainly not for a fun get-together with a friend. If I needed something quick I guess I could drop in knowing the coffee is ok however it's not somewhere I would choose to go again willingly.

Thinking about it now I believe this little cafe could be doing so much better. All that's required is a little effort in the decor to make people feel more at home, more welcomed. They had the service and quality of food sorted so they're half there I suppose as usually it's the service that is lacking in places like that.

I wonder how many of us limit our opportunities through poor presentation, and not just in our physical attributes. How we present to other's from the inside - Our manners, courtesy, humility, friendliness and other factors...All things which could affect how we are perceived by other people, no different to the café presenting to me in the way it did...I won't go back and why would I engage with a person, go back, if they left me with the same feeling. That's right...I wouldn't.